Have America’s Olympic Fans Lost Their Spirit?

The Olympic games, winter or summer, have never been about domination, they've been about moments!

Somehow I think American fans, at least much of the American press have forgotten the Olympic moments are more precious than the Olympic medals.

At 33 years old Lindsey Vonn became the oldest alpine skier ever to win a medal with a bronze in the women's downhill. She would later say the bronze felt like gold in part because her journey across the world cup of skiing was dotted with enough serious injuries to make a lesser athlete quit.

Instead Vonn put it all on the line and will again in the giant slalom but some media has criticized her effort and social media has been more negative than positive.

Vonn isn't the only USA athlete to be criticized, from ice dancing to bobsledding this hasn't exactly been America's winter Olympics.

Honestly the USA has never dominated the winter games and you know what? That's okay! The miracle on ice, Billy Kidd and Jimmie Huega winning the first ever medals in men's alpine, even the Tonya-Nancy debacle are moments in Olympic history that far outweigh the number of medals won or missed.

Breezy Johnson of Idaho finished 7th in the 2018 women's downhill one of three Americans to finish in the top 10, an Olympic first but a forgotten footnote by USA fans.

Team USA won it's first ever gold in cross country skiing when Jessica Diggins crossed the finish line .19 hundredths of a second ahead of Sweden with Norway third. Diggins and Kikkan Randall combined to best the best of the world in a sport dominated by the Scandinavians. It was headlines in Norway and Sweden but mostly unnoticed by USA fans still lamenting Vonn's bronze.

Sure a ton of medals would be great but ever since I was a kid the Olympics were more about moments than medals. I 'll always remember those special moments but I don't have a clue as to previous medal counts and that's just fine with me.